We hope you’ve had a good week and are ready for a break over Christmas!

This week, the Branch held its Christmas Stewards meeting which was a great chance to say thank you to all our activists and to welcome our newly ERA accredited Stewards. They fed back that they had really enjoyed the training, and some have already signed up for the Advanced Representation Course. The role is an interesting one, and much of the work the Stewards do is to resolve potential conflict or misunderstanding at an early stage. The Stewards are also involved in issues around sickness, ill health retirement, pension queries, and around Job Descriptions. They have done some amazing work this year and we feel very lucky to have their skills and knowledge.

After the Stewards meeting, we held our last Branch Committee meeting of the year. In the New Year, we hope to look at making a recruitment video that can be used at Induction sessions for employers. The committee discussed ERP Gold, and any training issues for staff that may have arisen since its introduction.

Ben King, our H&S Officer, attended the One Angel Square Building User Group on Tuesday (along with Elnora Latchman and Andy Langford). It is disappointing that staff are still experiencing the same issues since moving into the new headquarters in May 2017. This includes not being able to find a desk, noise, lifts breaking down, dishwashers failing, taps not pumping a steady supply of hot water, slow wifi, sockets requiring fuses, limited catering, problems with heating, and windows which open themselves in the freezing winter. Ben is continuing to escalate these matters on your behalf, however as a reminder please keep reporting problems to the Property Helpdesk: PSHelpdesk@northamptonshire.gov.uk and let Ben know if issues aren't progressed: HealthSafety@northantsunison.co.uk

This time of year can be particularly challenging for some people. If you work for NCC, don't forget the employer pays for a 24/7 telephone support service, where you can access not only counselling for work-related issues but advice with financial difficulties or debt, family relationships, legal problems, and overcoming addictions like smoking or gambling. It is confidential, so what you say isn't reported back to the employer. This Employee Assist scheme is run by "Health Assure", it's no longer Relate, and their main telephone number is 0800 0305 182. There's been a lot of positive feedback about the scheme, and you can find more details about it by visiting the staff intranet or please contact Ben. We'd like to hear your experience of Health Assure, both good or bad, and Ben meets with the health and safety team to discuss any issues with the service.

I have also had a message from Bernie Miley, our Womens Officer which Id like to pass on to you all

‘Christmas is a joyful time for most people but we should remember those who find it difficult for a variety of reasons. As Women’s Officer I am working over Christmas (apart from bank holidays) and if anyone needs to talk can be contacted on 07727 668808. I will be at Angel during the Christmas period.’

And finally, to end on a festive note (I love Christmas!), we hope you all have a merry/peaceful/relaxing/fun time if you chose to celebrate. Thank you so much for working alongside us this year and see you all in 2019.